The present invention relates to an automatic bank note transaction apparatus and more particularly, to an automatic bank note transaction apparatus installed in a bank branch operating to receiving/dispensing bank notes or bills.
Recently, various types of depositing/dispensing apparatus have been efficiently used as automatic bank note transaction apparatuses. These automatic banking transaction apparatuses have been known as automatic teller machines (ATMs) which are installed in automated corners of bank branches. These ATMs allow customers to automatically withdraw and deposit cash (bank notes). The ATM can continue to serve even outside banking hours. Therefore, ATMs can be installed in department stores and supermarkets, and the number of ATMs being installed is increasing and will continue to do so.
In a prior ATM is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,332 owned by same assignee as a present invention. In this device, every morning a bank clerk loads a mixture of bank notes of a first and second denomination into a loading/receiving cassette. The loading/receiving cassette is set in the ATM. A bank clerk depress a loading button, and the first and second denominations of bank notes are taken out and conveyed to first and second temporary storage sections. When the either one of the first and second temporary storage sections becomes full, the conveying device is prevented from conveying the bank notes from the loading/receiving cassette. After the loading operation is stopped because a temporary storage section is full, a stacking device stacks the bank notes stored in the full temporary storage section into a storage section. The above operation is repeated until the loading/receiving cassette becomes empty.
At the end of banking hours, a clerk depress a summing button. Upon depression of the summing button, the bank notes in the first and second storage section are taken out one by one and recovered to the loading/receiving cassette. When the loading/receiving cassette becomes to full, a bank clerk takes out the full loading/receiving cassette and inserts an empty loading/receiving cassette.
In the above described ATM, the bank notes are temporarily stored into the temporary storage section in units of a predetermined number of bank notes (e.g., 100 sheets) and then are stacked in the storage section. Therefore, the loading operation is stopped every time of predetermined number of bank notes are stacked in the temporary storage section.
As a result, in the above apparatus cannot be loading or unloading continuously, but instead requires a long time for the loading and unloading loading operation.